Council approves CityWise rental-listing agreement after questions from landlords and tenants

The Green Bay Common Council voted Aug. 5 to approve an agreement with CityWise, a private rental‑listing platform, to provide a city‑branded online housing search resource. The vote followed public testimony from property managers and CityWise representatives and a lengthy council discussion about data accuracy, branding and onboarding.

Rick Vander Leest, president of the Apartment Association of Northeast Wisconsin and the Fox Valley Apartment Association, told the council he supports the idea of a centralized rental portal but urged staff and CityWise to return to committee to resolve problems his members reported from other municipalities — especially listings that remained displayed as available after units had been rented. “If they’re showing as being available, they get a lot of bad publicity within both the city and rental community,” Vander Leest said.

CityWise representatives — Jeremy Schmidt and Dominic Anzalone, the company’s CEO — told the council the company does not charge landlords with fewer than 20 units during an initial rollout and that many landlords are being contacted directly to verify listings. Schmidt said some integrations with property-management software are newly added and that the company can correct stale listings within 24 hours when landlords or staff notify them. Anzalone said CityWise has operated comparable programs for universities and 10 other Wisconsin municipalities and offered to work directly with the apartment association and city staff to resolve concerns.

Council members pressed for two specific assurances: regular progress reports and a commitment that CityWise would coordinate with the Apartment Association and city staff during the rollout. City staff said there was no mandated timeline, but implementation could be quick and that a city-managed notification process could accompany the vendor onboarding. Several council members said they were comfortable approving a no-cost pilot for the city, provided CityWise and staff continue to refine data integrations and landlord outreach.

The council’s motion to approve the agreement was made by Alder Prophet and seconded by Alder DeLay; the measure passed on a roll call vote.

What the agreement includes: CityWise representatives described phased onboarding of landlords, outreach to property managers, and software integrations to reduce stale listings. The company said it can start adding properties immediately and expected to enroll a large portion of landlords within three to four months, with earlier results in the first month. City staff and the apartment association will continue to coordinate on data accuracy and landlord outreach.

Speakers included Rick Vander Leest (Apartment Association president), CityWise representatives Jeremy Schmidt and Dominic Anzalone, city department directors and several councilmembers. City staff said they will track the rollout and encourage the vendor to improve software integrations and landlord communications.

Ending: Council members said they expect CityWise and city staff to work closely with the apartment association to fix reported issues and to update council if recurring problems continue.